Refuse containers are a necessity for homeowners and business owners alike. Typically, refuse containers are positioned in convenient locations for trash disposal in the proximity of people using an area of a business or home. A common form of a trash container comprises a rigid body which forms an internal chamber with there being an access opening provided within a rim at the upper end of the internal chamber. A lid is connectable with the rim to close the access opening. When the lid is removed, trash is able to be thrown into and collected within the trash can body. Most modern refuse containers also house a separate, removable waste receiving receptacle such as a collapsible plastic bag. A common form of a trash bag is constructed of flexible plastic which is held open by folding the bag over the lip of the container to facilitate the placing of trash into the bag. Once the bag is filled, the top of the liner is tied closed and lifted out of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,300 discloses rigid one piece a trash container with a bag holding mechanism which firmly supports a flexible walled plastic bag in an open configuration within the container. However, filled bags often seal against the side walls of the container causing difficulty in lifting the filled bags. U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,818 teaches a trash receptacle for receiving and holding a flexible, collapsible trash liner. More particularly, the trash receptacle device provides a cavity formed in the lower portion of the trash receptacle, for use as a foothold for assisting a user in removing a full trash liner from the receptacle and a handhold to assist the user in transporting the receptacle.
Typically, the aforementioned containers provide portability for storage, but lack structural integrity and aesthetic appearance for use in commercial areas. In addition, a major problem with this type of prior art trash container arises when the wind or an animal overturns the trash container and spreads refuse on the ground. This situation is not only unsightly but may also be unsanitary if the receptacle is filled with food type refuse.
In an attempt to overcome the spillage problem trash containers have been provided with an attached top portion for the container. The top portion is usually provided with one or more openings, sometimes closed with a swinging door, through which the refuse may pass to be received by the waste receptacle within the container. The swinging doors are generally provided with a weight, spring, or mechanical mechanism which must be pushed open to place trash in the container. Because the top portion is securely attached to the container portion these containers are generally constructed with access doors in their side to facilitate removing a filled trash bag from the container portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,222 teaches a pedal operated garbage container with improved access to the interior when the lid is opened. In this container, a platform for supporting waste is pivoted to the opposite side walls at its forward edge, and a front wall extends upwardly from the forward edge of the platform. Operation of a pedal pivots the platform upwardly and the front wall outwardly, providing access to the interior. One or more waste receptacles are placed on the platform, and must be lifted out for emptying as needed. This is a relatively complex structure, with several internal pivotal linkages within the container linked to the pedal actuator.
While providing a partial solution to the overturning problem, the access doors used to place trash into this type of device often become unsanitary and transfer germs when they become soiled by one user and a second user must push the door open with their hand to place refuse in the container. In addition, most animals are capable of pushing the doors open and entering the container, but once inside they are unable to pull the door open to get out of the container without help.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,080 teaches a trash receptacle that opens on the side so that the filed bag need not be lifted out of the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,134 teaches a trash container formed with an open fronted housing having a pivotally mounted front wall movable between a closed position and an open position displaced from the open front to allow a full trash bag to be removed readily from the housing, without having to lift the bag up and clear of the open upper end of the housing. A releasable locking device releasably locks the front wall in the closed position.
Typically, the structure of such devices are complex requiring numerous small metal and/or plastic fasteners and connector members to maintain a structurally sound container. Due to the complexity of these devices they are generally only offered to consumers fully assembled and not in a kit form and therefore require large shipping containers or crates, thereby increasing the final cost of the product to the consumer.
Such prior art systems, while working well, have not met all of the needs of manufacturers to provide a product that can be easily manufactured, packaged and shipped to the consumer in a kit form. Nor have they met the needs of consumers requiring structural integrity combined with aesthetic appearance and ease of assembly without the need for tools and small fasteners for assembly.
Paramount among such needs is a panel system which creates a trash container having walls which resist panel separation, buckling, racking and weather infiltration. Structural integrity is a further consideration, the box formed by the panels must tie into the cover and bottom in such a way as to unify the entire enclosure. Also, from a safety standpoint, a cover should be present which can be easily latched and which provides dependable pivoting access to the lined trash container.
There are also commercial considerations that must be satisfied by any viable trash container kit; considerations which are not entirely satisfied by state of the art products. The trash container must be formed of relatively few component parts that are inexpensive to manufacture by conventional techniques. The trash container box must also be capable of being packaged and shipped in a knocked-down state.
Finally, there are ergonomic needs that a trash container kit must satisfy in order to achieve acceptance by the end user. The trash container must be easily and quickly assembled using minimal hardware and requiring a minimal number of tools. Further, the trash container must not require excessive strength to assemble or include heavy component parts. Moreover, the trash container kit must assemble together in such a way so as not to detract from the internal storage volume of the resulting trash container or otherwise detract from the internal storage volume of the resulting assembled trash container or otherwise negatively affect the utility of the assembled trash container.